Summer Upstate (Avengers x Male OC)

2: It All Went South

Nico threw the rock in his hand at the lake with as much force as he could muster. It dropped into the water creating ripples on the mirror like surface.

He had spent a lot of time in this area of the woods by the lake. It was peaceful and there didn't seem to be any houses nearby.

 It had been one hell of a week. 

Actually it had been a week of hell. 

"Dad, can I talk to you, alone?" Nico asked. His dad shook his head. "No can do. All discussions happen with both your parents in the room. It'll have to wait until the little ones go to sleep." Fletcher said simply. 

"Nicole isn't my parent. I haven't even known her for 48 hours." The boy protested, "And its a bit more urgent than that.". Fletcher just shook his head, looking into the fridge. He pulled out a plastic jug with pink lemonade inside. The sort of thing they never had around the house. 

"I'm gonna take these out to the kids." The man said, ignoring the protests. 

"Dad, this is important. I've been getting all the information I can about the snap and the blip from the news and the internet but I need to talk to you. You're whole life changed just 5 months after the blip. There's so much I don't know. Like how are our family friends doing? All that stuff." Nicholas said. 

"I know its important to you, but Nico and I are a team. You need to talk to both of us at times like these. It'll help you get to know her." His dad said, pouring the lemonade into two Disney themed sippy cups. 

The boy was confused. "I'm Nico." He said. His dad suddenly looked very uncomfortable. 

"No, you're Nicholas, Nico is the nickname I use for Nicole." He said. Nico's brow furrowed. 

"That was my nickname for my entire life. That was what everyone-you included-called me." The teen said, "You let her take my name?". 

"You can't own a name." Fletcher said. Nico gave him a look that said 'are you being serious?'. 

"Its just wrong. You can't let your new wife use my nickname. That's gross." The teen said, physically cringing at the idea of him calling them both Nico. 

"I'm not discussing this right now. I named you Nicholas so that is your name. Not Nico." The man said, handing the boy one of the Disney cups. He started walking to the back door and Nico followed after him. 

"What did you do with my stuff?" The kid asked instead. "I asked Nicole and she said she didn't know what happened to it.". Fletched gave him a confused look. 

"We threw most of your things out during the move." He said, like it meant nothing to him, "A couple of the things you kept from when you were younger went to the kids. Nico wanted to make sure they had some stuff to connect them to you. I kept your trophies.". 

"Oh course you did." Nicholas said angrily. "Can I at least have my baby stuff back from them? Most of that was stuff from mom and its really personal." He was a little embarrassed to admit that. He had a rocky relationship with his move when he came to live with his dad at 13. She had a lot of regrets about how they adopted him and their subsequent divorce. 

It seemed he was everyone's biggest regret. 

"Do you honestly want to steal toys from babies? They didn't do anything to hurt you and they didn't replace you. Stop acting like they did." Fletcher said angrily. 

Nico gave him a confused look. "I didn't say that. I never said that." He responded. He didn't think that. "You're being really defensive.".

"I'm not being defensive." His dad snapped. That was the least convincing statement Nico had ever heard.